First, the Lacrosse IQ blog is focused on developing the Lacrosse IQ for all players and to develop a higher IQ, players and coaches must become students of the game and sports overall. Closing the mind to other sports – including those across the gender lines — will retard the development of a higher lacrosse IQ. Simply, when boys call another sport lame and fail to open their minds to learn from it, they deny themselves the ability to grow as athletes and lacrosse players. Lacrosse players can learn angles and anticipation from tennis, torque and follow-through from golf, bowling and baseball, vision from hockey and basketball, etc. If you’re not learning as a lacrosse player, you’re not growing.

Next, the post was written from the perspective of male lacrosse coaches, educators and former college players. The negative comments depict a pervasive attitude in men’s lacrosse that a sport without contact is less-than and provides no insights into the sport overall. This could not be further from the truth and frankly undermines the boys’ games and the development of players. Boys lacrosse players and coaches should be watching and learning from girls’ lacrosse and vice versa. If you don’t, you do so at your own peril because those who do, will develop a higher lacrosse IQ.

While the warlike element of lacrosse is often touted, lacrosse historians remind us that it was called the medicine game and the creator game and was seen as a spiritual journey and that’s exactly how our boys and girls should view the sport… a journey.

Take the journey. Open the mind and develop the body. Grow your lacrosse IQ.

A men’s lacrosse game may attract larger crowds but listen up, boys – there is a lot that can be learned from girls’ lacrosse and by no means should the female version of the game be ignored or downplayed. There are some key differences between boys and girls lacrosse – from the physicality allowed to the sticks used to the rules enforced – that have changed the way girls are playing the game…and in a good way.

To begin with, girls’ lacrosse is a purer form of the game, with a lineage closer to the sport’s early history. In the female version of the game, players abide by rules that are closer to the original regulations, with being “out of bounds” only recently resulting in a stoppage of play.

The sticks used in girls’ lacrosse have a shallower pocket than the sticks boys use in their games. This lack of pocket depth forces girls to be more aware of where the ball is, since the ball is more likely to fall out of a shallow pocket. For this same reason, girls also must be aware of their body positioning, grip placement, and stick location at all times since any false movement could mean loss of the ball. From this, boys can see how increased awareness makes girls more attentive to the physical aspect of the competition and can learn to increase focus on the mechanics of the game.

Girls are also experts at defensive positioning. Much like in basketball, girls’ lacrosse players are not permitted to openly check each other so girls don’t have the option of knocking another player out of position. Instead, girls are always aware of their location and must be precise about their positioning. If boys can add this additional consciousness to their game, they would be able to improve their method of body-checking while remaining in proper position to defend their goal as necessary.

Teamwork is also hyper-important in girls’ lacrosse. In the girls’ game, each player needs to always be aware of their position on the field and communication plays a huge role in that. When the whistle is blown to stop the game, girls are not permitted to move. Therefore, they must think ahead when they see a ball going out-of-bounds. It can be easier to beat someone one-on-one without the physicality allowed in boy’s lacrosse, so girls rely on their teammates to let them know when their competitors are in their area so they can make the moves necessary to retain ball possession. Enhancing team communication for boys’ lacrosse can make a team stronger and more primed on both the offensive and defensive zones of the field.

For most parents, the ultimate goal of youth sports is to have a positive experience, one that will help their children grow in healthy physical and emotional ways.

The Blog, “The Sports Doc Chalk Talk by Dr. Chris Stankovich” offers this short list of important learning points to focus on throughout your child’s athletic career so that he/she will not only play to her highest potential on the field, but also use the sport experience to maximize her overall human development as well:

Process Goals – Most parents encourage their child to play hard enough to one day become the best kid on the team (or league). There’s nothing wrong with this encouragement, of course, but keep in mind that all outcome goals (like becoming an All Star or team MVP) always begin with process goals. When thinking about process goals, keep in mind these are the types of goals that are fully under the control of the athlete (like maintaining a strength training program, running, mastering plays, etc.). Outcome goals are not completely under the control of the athlete, especially if the goal is to win an award thats voted on by the coaching staff or league.

Focus - Parents can help their children with focus at very young ages by teaching the basics — like learning how to pay attention to relevant cues (i.e. the next pitch) while ignoring irrelevant cues (i.e. the people in the crowd). The skill of focus is an important one, and can also be transferred to many other areas in life — including the classroom.

Resiliency – The old saying of “It’s not how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up” may be one of the greatest lessons that can be learned through sports. Resiliency, or mental toughness, is a terrific skill to help your child master as there are countless sport experiences that involve stress, frustration, adversity, and losing. Resiliency also helps with motivation — another great life success skill!

Humility – Winning with grace and keeping the ego in check are skills parents can teach their kids through various successful sport experiences. Humiliating, taunting, and embarrassing opponents are never good things – on or off the field.

Sportsmanship – Similarly to winning with grace, kids can also learn to be good sports during those tough times as well – like after a humiliating loss, or after experiencing a blown call by a referee. Sports, like life, aren’t always “fair,” but what’s most important is to respect the rules and opponent at all times – even when spirits are down.

Dr Stankovich suggest you conduct your own family audit and see how your gang stacks up.

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ABOUT BUILDING BLOCKS

The BBL Academy provides year round training that is ideal for establishing, improving and mastering the individual skills needed to be an outstanding lacrosse player. We have charted out the individual skills a player would need on the lacrosse field and then developed these concepts into class categories to help encapsulate the concepts within various curriculums. Each line of training has its own curriculum and unique set of class plans, as well as an evaluation process to track player development. This format serves players of all positions, and will teach forward thinking players that it is vital to be skilled both offensively and defensively because of the universality of these skills on the lacrosse field.